Heavy snow and blizzards in New York from a meteoric storm over the Great Lakes, New York, and the Michigan area
A perilous and prolonged winter storm that barreled across the nation over the past week brought heavy snow and blizzard conditions to parts of the US, as a major arctic blast plunged temperatures to dangerous levels in much of the country.
As it moved over the Great Lakes, the storm became a “bomb cyclone,” bringing blizzard and winter weather alerts along with whiteout conditions. New York state in particular saw heavy snowfall that stranded even emergency vehicles and caused widespread outages.
The city in New York received over 50 inches of snow this month. It was back in December 2001 that Buffalo received 80.7 inches of snow.
A village in New York’s Lewis County lies buried in the snow. Driving conditions were so difficult that even snowplows had a tough time navigating the roads, CNN affiliate WWNY reported.
The Michigan area set a daily maximum snowfall record with 10.9 inches of snow on Sunday. This beats the old record of 8 inches received back on December 25, 1992.
Strange weather may arrive early in the Mid-Atlantic if we don’t have ice in the past 12 months, as reported by the Department of Agriculture
According to a spokesman with the Department of Agriculture, spring is coming early in the southern and eastern US. “Here in the mid-Atlantic, that means everything from budding trees to crocuses in bloom to spring peepers making lots of noise — and in February, no less.”
Here’s a stark example: Before this decade, Charleston, West Virginia, had only hit 80 degrees before March three times in more than 100 years of record-keeping. But this week’s incredible warmth will mean that four of the last six years will have logged temperatures of 80 degrees, which is its normal high on June 1, in February.
“Whenever we get these events, we should always be thinking there’s the possibility or likelihood that human-induced climate change is increasing the likelihood of strange weather,” Richard Seager, climate researcher at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, told CNN. The more time goes on, the more damage they can do.
On the Great Lakes, ice coverage reached a record low for this time of the year — the same time that the annual maximum extent of ice usually occurs. As of last week, only 7% of the five freshwater lakes were covered in ice, a sharp difference from the 35 to 40% ice cover typically expected in mid-to-late February, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Scientists have said that ice provides a buffer for large, wind-driven waves during the winter on the Great Lakes. Without the ice, the coastlines are more susceptible to erosion and flooding.
A researcher at the Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research at the University of Michigan believes that low ice coverage could cause a lake-effect snow storm like the one in New York.
“The moisture and heat from the lake surface water are absorbed into the atmosphere by storm systems, and then fall back to the ground as snow in the winter,” Fujisaki-Manome said in a statement.
At Vermont’s Lake Champlain, the annual ice fishing tournament was cancelled last weekend when three fishermen died after falling through the ice. The man with the body found hours after he was expected to return from the lake was one of three people to die after their vehicle broke through the ice.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/23/us/early-spring-record-warmth-impacts-climate/index.html
The Northeast had its warmest January since 1948, according to Montpelier, Vermont, and NNWS data, and the Indian climate crisis issued its first heatwave alert
Montpelier, Vermont, had its warmest January on record this year since 1948, with Burlington recording its fifth warmest January since 1884, according to the Burlington National Weather Service.
Robert Wilson, a professor at Syracuse University, said the Northeast is a “fast-warming region” with winter seasons warming more quickly than summers due to the climate crisis.
The warm weather has left ski resorts with little or no snow. In February, top skiers wrote an open letter to the International Ski and Snowboard Federation demanding action on the climate crisis.
Plants are already showing their colors across the country, a sign that spring could be near in some places.
Many plants species — including daffodils, witch-hazel, forsythia and even cherry blossoms — are beginning to leaf out in the East. Theresa Crimmins, director of the USA National Phenology Network, said it’s the plants responding to very early warm temperatures.
“Plants, especially those of temperate systems, respond to a number of cues in order to wake up in the spring, including exposure to chill in the winter, exposure to warmth in the spring, and day length,” she told CNN.
It feels wonderful to have temperatures in the 70 and 80s this time of year, but not normal, which has an impact on the economy and the environment. “Even a typical spring freeze can damage commercial and back-yard fruit crops that have been pushed into blooming by late-winter warmth.”
India issued its first heatwave alert, with temperatures in some states reaching 39 degrees Celsius (102 Fahrenheit) – up to 9 degrees Celsius (16.2 Fahrenheit) above normal, according to data released by the India Meteorological Department on Monday.
The warnings of a hot spell as early as February is a scary situation according to Krishna, a professor at the Institute of Technology Delhi.
This February, with high temperatures hitting wheat-producing states, including Rajasthan and Gujarat, India has set up a committee to monitor the impact of rising temperatures on the crop, according to Reuters.
Europe experienced an extreme winter heat wave that broke January temperature records in a number of countries. Low levels of snow and rainfall have fueled concerns about the region’s rivers and lakes.
In northern Italy, water in the lake has reached record lows as the River Po is fed by snow from the Alps and rain in the spring. Italy declared a state of emergency last year after it experienced its worst droughts in 70 years.